New kinds of survey measurements

Across the history of survey research, advances in technology, demand by data users, and shifts in societal acceptance have afforded opportunities for new data collection modes and techniques to be applied. This chapter highlights a number of opportunities that have recently become available, some of which may be underutilized or entirely neglected in survey research. Technologies such as smartphones, GPS trackers, activity monitors, social media profiles and posts, digital cameras, and even more broadly the Internet of Things provide exciting opportunities for researchers to collect new, diverse, and potentially rich forms of data. However, as this chapter points out, concerns about research ethics, respondent burden, non-response and data quality must also be considered.